Soaring Eagle!

This sea eagle soared over us on a boat ride from Svolvær on the Lofoten islands of Norway. He circled around us for a few minutes before finally landing on a nearby cliff. It's quite incredible to see these emormous birds close up!

Soaring Together

Two storks flying close together as they leave their feeding area. We saw a total of 12 storks at once in this field in northern Germany.

Perched in a tree

A black redstart checking me out from the safety of a tree.

Will you feed me already?!

This sparrow chick seems to be VERY demanding of mother bird! So demanding that mother bird seems a little bit shocked and scared of her own child. This bird house is hanging on our neighbor's house, about 12 feet away from our kitchen window. It's been a lot of fun watching the feeding lately.

Bumble Bee Landing

The bumble bees have been going crazy over our hollyhocks lately. We have a ton of hollyhocks, and there have been hundreds of bumble bees (and other bees and insects) swarming all over them. It's pretty normal to see two bees sharing one flower.  We even saw two bees mating while hanging off of a flower! This picture is of a bumble bee about to land in one of the hollyhock blossoms.

Flying Stork

A stork flying from a field in northern germany. There were around 20 storks walking around in this field, feeding on whatever they could find. 

Preening in the Sun

We have several stork pairs nesting in our area. We were out taking pictures of them recently, and I caught this shot of the mother stork preening herself while her babies wait for dad to come back with food. He did come a couple of times while we were there.

Grasping the Grass

A reed bunting grasps a stem of reed grass as it feeds on worms.

Peeking Through the Reeds

This common coot found a nicely protected place to nest. You can see it peeking satisfied through the reeds while it sits on its eggs.

Willow Warbler

A willow warbler catching the last rays of the evening sun.

Feeding time!

A great tit flying away from the house after feeding the kids.

The Squirrel and the Sparrow Hawk

We were having breakfast one rainy morning, and the squirrel (who is a regular visitor) was making quite a ruckus in our cherry tree. We thought at first he might be after one of the sparrow babies that had been flying around for a couple of days. Shortly thereafter, we noticed a sparrow hawk sitting in the tree not far away. That's why squirrel was making such a fuss! We thought the sparrow hawk was maybe trying to have the squirrel for breakfast as he sat there intently eyeing him. Then he spread his wings in a display of power, and the squirrel fled.

It was then that we realized what was really going on. Now left alone, the sparrow hawk bent down and started  feeding on the carcass of a small bird between his Talons. He wasn't after the squirrel, the squirrel had been after HIS breakfast! Continuing to feed in the rain, he paused now and then to look around and keep watch of the situation. Eventually he flew of, clutching his catch. Here's a few pictures of the feeding.

Blackbird sings

A blackbird sings in the springtime light.

Buzzing Buzzard

I shot this picture as this Buzzard flew directly over me, and I had to track with the bird to get my shot. I had just a fraction of a second to get it. I'm happy it came out so well. There was a bit of luck involved, and thankfully my camera settings were just right.

Swans

A pair of swans swims on a pond in the marshlands.

Raven

A raven sitting in our fully blooming cherry tree.

Garden Newt

I was digging around in a flower bed in our garden, and found this newt under the surface. He was very kind and posed fore some pictures!

Sunflower Seeds are Yummy!

This greenfinch thinks sunflower seeds are really yummy! There's been a few of them that spend hours sitting on the feeder, stuffing themselves with seeds. 

Sparrow Hawk.

This sparow hawk was sitting on the fence in our back yard early one snowy morning. These Hawks eat small birds, so I think he was attracted by the activity at our bird feeders. Fortunately, he flew off without getting anything. Unfortunately, the light was very poor, and it ended up being a pretty noisy picture, I denoised it as subtlely as I could, and I think the image came out pretty well. This picture has been cropped as well.

The Raven

With it's black cape-like wings draping down as it flies, this raven almost has a bit of a batman look to it. We've had lots of ravens visiting our garden in the past week, but they are really shy, and fly off before I can photograph them. This one I got on a lucky shot, though!